Semiconductor devices are made on substrates, such as silicon substrates, glass plates or the like, often termed wafers, for use in computers, monitors, etc. These devices are made by a sequence of fabrication steps, such as thin film deposition, oxidation, etching, polishing and thermal and lithographic processing. Although in many cases multiple fabrication steps may be performed in a single processing apparatus, substrates typically must be transported between different processing tools for at least some of the fabrication steps required for device fabrication.
Substrates generally are stored in carriers for transfer between processing tools and other locations. In many cases substrate carriers completely enclose the substrate or substrates contained therein in a stationary volume of air or gas, to reduce the risk of particulate contamination of the substrates. Accordingly, when the substrate carrier is interfaced to a processing tool, it is necessary to open and/or remove a door of the substrate carrier to permit the substrates to be extracted from the substrate carrier. While existing techniques and arrangements for removing doors from substrate carriers are generally satisfactory, it would be desirable to simplify such techniques and arrangements so as to reduce the cost and complexity thereof.